This article is part one of an ongoing series where I take 12 games suggested by 12 different friends, play them over the year, compile my thoughts and contrast them against why they thought I should give the titles a try. This article also contains spoilers, so read with care.
“Life is Strange is a near and dear series to me, and while nothing has been able to hit the same chord as the first, True Colours resonated. There’s no doubt it’s smaller in scale; there’s no time travel, freak tornadoes or world-ending stakes. There’s just an anxious stray, brought into a loving community, fighting everyone else’s inner demons.
I love how Alex is written. I love how beautiful Colorado is. I love the kindness of the family you make. And I don’t think I fully realized how much until the story was over.
I relate with her, strongly, even if empathetic superpowers are a bit on the nose. She does her best with the cards she’s dealt and in the end you’re left with a very sweet, very well-meaning story about finding home and making a difference. This series shines brightest when it slows down and reflects on the moment and True Colours really lets you feel that fresh air.” – Loopie
At the start of 2025, I decided to pick up Life is Strange: Before the Storm, as I wanted to play the newest entry, Double Exposure, but wanted all the context. It was leaving PlayStation Plus Extra in January so I jumped onto it and got it done while I had access. It ended up being a lot better than I thought, I regretted skipping it back at release. I was going to skip forward to the latest release but I decided then to play 2 which hit me in a hard way. When I started 2, Loopie urged me to play True Colours, a title that I hadn’t thought about playing at all, so, when I was done with 2 I took a small break and then eventually started it in February.
At first, I didn’t really get the appeal. It started with an intriguing enough premise, especially with the outburst that happens in the apartment, but then, for two whole chapters, nothing particularly interesting happened. It felt like it was meandering around trying to figure out what it wanted its point to be. This isn’t to say there were not elements I didn’t enjoy, there were tender moments where Alex had to help the flower store owner with her memory loss and you had to virtually enter her terrifying world of confusion and fog to try and unravel the mystery of her day. The notion of possessing a level of empathy where you literally live that person’s anxieties struck a chord with me. As someone who had struggled to identify with some people, this has helped me better understand other perspectives going forward.
This opened the door for me to start trying to see how others felt. I forgave Mac and helped him out after the vicious attack on him in the early chapter, I took time to help the residents in town, and the LARP gameplay was a fun change of pace, even if I did want the game to kind of “get to the point”. That was until at least I reached the close of the third chapter which introduced an interesting twist about an elaborate conspiracy happening in this unassuming town with a giant capitalist villain oppressing their every movement.
At the start of chapter 4, I realised it was going to be another slow chapter despite what was seemingly inferred from the end of the previous chapter, so I decided to go with the flow. I walked around the party, talking to everyone and then realised, I wasn’t confined here, I could leave and walk around town and that’s when it all started to click with me. I wondered slowly, listened to people’s conversations, and learned about their lives. I walked past a couple who owned the ice cream parlour that discussed giving their business into a fantasy theme in a delightfully wholesome exchange. I even encountered one of the characters at the edge of town, contemplating their decisions in a conversation I bet most people never encounter since you had to go so far away from the main path, but I was so glad I did.
Whilst this was almost ideally a good thing happening here, the weight of deciding not to accept another character’s rage was starting to push down on me. I picked the self-preservation route: I thought that after all this character had gone through she deserved some normalcy but in doing so, it appears I had made another character’s life significantly worse. It stayed with me; did I really make the right call? How many games make you question your morality to this extent? None I’d played recently and I’m just off the heels of the other Life is Strange entries. Of course, by the end of this chapter none of this is a major issue considering what Alex has to deal with as it comes to a close.
THIS SECTION CONTAINS LATE-GAME SPOILERS, DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED– IT ALSO CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT REGARDING CANCER SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
When everything catches up to Alex at the end of the chapter, I wanted nothing more than to run away with Steph like she offered. I didn’t want to do this when it was initially presented but I gravitated towards the idea after being arrested and when Jed wanted to speak to you at the end, I could smell his betrayal coming a mile away. I was right of course: Jed takes his shot, Alex falls slowly into the mine, and is assumed dead. The quiet town returns to its slumber, blanketed by the evil corporation that haunts its very peace, and we move onward to chapter 5.
The climax from chapters 4 into 5 was a traumatic one. I wish that Life is Strange 2 had delved deeper into something like this rather than jumping right into the hospital. Fortunately, Alex has plot armour and even if the views of the mineshafts fill my being with anxiety it was back to Alex’s mind we go, poking the past and exploring the trauma that made Alex the way she is. The revelation that her mother had cancer was a big hit to me, I’ve grown up and lived with the fear of this very thing happening at any moment. Living it through Alex’s eyes was a horrifying ordeal: clouding her memories with her ideal view of the past and then being forced to live what actually happened, the misunderstanding of emotional withdrawal as strength, being the weight and the burden of a family. It was a relatable and tough experience to play through. It demonstrates the emotional maturity and willingness to push the envelope with their storytelling that most other narrative adventure games daren’t try to surpass, this has always been one of the strengths of DON’T NOD and Deck Nine’s writing abilities.
I could go on and on about the way the memories that played back were easy to identify with. How I used music to drown out the arguments and block out the world; how that was ultimately what led me into emo culture and music: to find a safe way to express despair. While the comparisons stop at desertion, foster homes and worse, the empathy that had been expressed throughout the game at this point allowed me to freely get inside Alex’s head and truly understand the hardship and horror she’d been put through. This is the power of Life is Strange, not the empathy powers, or the butterfly effect, no, the emotional resonance between player and character. Gabe’s speech to Alex at the end of the flashbacks affected me deeply, it puts things into perspective, especially around the context of the memories, I’ll put it below so you can read it too if you’re not familiar:
“Let it go. People leave. Life gets hard. Sometimes it’s just a big shit sandwich. Make it better. Be angry at Dad. Miss Mom. Hell, be angry at me. But don’t give up. No one gets to tell you what you’re worth. And no one can take your life away. Fight!”
-Gabe, ‘Chapter 5: Side B’, Life is Strange: True Colours
The twist—that Jed, by abandoning his team of Helldivers, resulted in the death of Alex’s father, and that Gabe and Alex would somehow end up living with him in his quiet and unassuming town— is palpable. This is the expert-level writing I knew and loved from this series and it took me by such surprise I audibly gasped. All the letters sent to her dad weren’t replied to not through neglect, but due to the actions of one greedy man who together with the corrupt company ripped to shreds the peace of this town built on a lie. When Alex walks into the bar, bloody, beaten, but not defeated ready to confront Jed, it’s oh-so-satisfying. I, of course, condemned him, after the gaslighting and the pain afflicted, it’s what he deserves.
SPOILERS END HERE
As I finish True Colours, I feel like the perspective I take with me into these stories will be altered. I am going to play the remaster of the original title. As I explore that world again for the first time in 8 years, I’ll take the scenic route, get to know the people and try and be a bit better than I was the first time around.
As I read Loopie’s thoughts and why they suggested this title to me specifically, I think about things more acutely. There have been a lot of moments in my past where I have neglected people—friends—due to being caught up in my own anguish when in reality, emotional healing comes better when sharing, being there to listen, and the quiet tender moments. Not everyone has been in the shoes of Alex, some are fortunate enough to have avoided the kind of destructive forces that can cause anxiety, but for those of us that do feel this way, it’s good to not feel alone. I’m glad I got to experience this story. I’m also glad I got to experience it with my friend’s thoughts to reflect on in the end and this is something that will stay with me for years to come as I grow myself and hopefully become a better person and a better friend.
I found some old cards and letters, whilst sorting out my physical belongings recently; it made me miss my friend. They aren’t that far but just outside of my every day grasp, and it kills me that I didn’t take advantage of them being so close. I’m going to make more of an effort; I’m going to be better and that is in no small part due to the powerful experiences I felt here.
Some things bothered me. A notable example is how in the first chapter Alex was shown as unable to limit her interaction with the strong emotions around her causing her to lash out or react negatively to others, but this never really happens again. There is no incident informing us about how she suddenly overcame this huge part of her life, was it enough that she wanted to do better for her brother that allowed her to overcome this? Was she not trying through all the incidents leading up to this point? It’s never explored and is a big hole in an otherwise competent and well-written story.
If you have not played a Life is Strange game, or have only experienced the original I urge you to live through this adventure. It’s powerful and poignant, and if my words here haven’t convinced you of its ability to help you empathise, then the journey surely will. A huge thank you to Loopie for providing me with this choice, I wrote way more than I ever intended but I felt justified in doing so, this resonated with me in a way I never anticipated, especially with how the first half felt.
Video game completionist and 3D platformer connoisseur, Riley is a fan of the whimsical frenzy of bright and colourful characters that blessed us in the late 90's. Their favourite game's are Spyro, Persona 5 and Super Mario Sunshine.
